I have observed an increase in cases of serious illness which – in my opinion – can be attributed to the effects of high frequency radiation from the ubiquitous DECT telephones and base stations of mobile telecommunications transmitters. This issue is, however, often deliberately ignored by doctors, especially as they are under the influence of official professional organisations (e.g. in Hessen, there is approved training for doctors via the Information Centre for Telecommunications, one of the organisations run by the mobile
telecommunications operators).

In October 2002, a group of doctors to which I too belong ‘went public’ for the first time. They addressed the general public as well as those who are responsible in the health care system and politics by launching the ”Freiburg Appeal“ [German = “Freiburger Appell”]. They pointed out the increase in cancers, heart attacks and strokes that are also occurring in young patients, as well as numerous other disorders that appear in the environment of DECT telephones and mobile telecommunications transmitters, and they demanded that
politicians and industry take action.

I quote: – “In recent years, we have observed...a dramatic increase of serious and chronic
illnesses, especially:
• Learning-, concentration- and behavioural disorders in children (e.g. hyperactivity)
• Derailment of blood pressure that is increasingly difficult to control with medication, cardiac arrhythmias, heart attacks and strokes in ever younger people
• Degenerative brain illnesses (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease) and epilepsy
• Cancers such as leukaemia and brain tumours

An ever increasing occurrence of various disorders that are often interpreted as
psychosomatic disorders, such as
• Headaches and migraine
• Chronic exhaustion
• Inner agitation
• Insomnia and daytime tiredness
• Tinnitus
• Susceptibility to infections
• Nerve and soft tissue pains that cannot be explained by usual causes.

We can no longer believe that this is purely coincidental because too often, we are observing a marked increase in the number of specific illnesses in areas or in housing exposed to telecommunications radiation. Too often, the illnesses – which have existed for months or even years - improve or disappear in a relative short time following the reduction or elimination of a radiation exposure in the patients´ environment. Furthermore, too often, the measurements carried out by building biologists confirm exceptionally high
electromagnetic radiation intensity at the location of our observations.“

Those who are responsible in politics and the health care system have mainly failed to respond. Only in the Deutsche Aerzteblatt (official journal of the German medical association – Bundesaerztekammer) did an article ask the incredulous question: How could so many different symptoms possibly be attributed to one common underlying mechanism?

However, the response of doctors and others working in the health care system as well as the general public was very gratifying. So far, over 36,000 (thirty six thousand) signatures have been collected from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and also from countries further away such as Canada and New Zealand.

I am a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist, with an emphasis on psychotherapy. I have been in the profession since 1972. Since 1993, I have been running my own practice in Leutkirch, a small town with 12,000 inhabitants. This article should encourage an increased awareness of new phenomena presenting in the patients of a normal medical practice. As a medical practitioner running my own practice, I cannot provide a
fundamental discussion of the subject of telecommunications that will comply with all scientific criteria. I refer to the extensive research on this topic which unfortunately has not included an investigation of the dwelling or work places of ill people to date.

I describe my observations of 65 patients, who randomly consulted my practice, which is a one-person practice with a fre lance administrator.

To read Dr Aschermann's full study

More articles on mobile phones and masts

First Published in 2009

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